Foundation President Turgay Aldemir, opinion leaders, businessmen, educators, public and NGO representatives from Gaziantep and surrounding provinces and districts, Syrian guests, volunteers and many other guests attended the iftar program.
Greeting speeches started with the speech of Mustafa El Hüseyin, President of Gaziantep Syrian Community.
Mustafa El Hüseyin; “I am honored to be with you at the iftar program organized in cooperation with Gaziantep Syrian Community, Bülbülzade Foundation and Migrant Services. I wish Allah's mercy to our citizens who lost their lives due to the devastating earthquake that occurred in the south of Turkey and the north of Syria. We will continue to overcome this difficult process by joining hands together. We have always been united by destiny in these lands, in wars and natural disasters. Borders could not prevent our unity of destiny. After the earthquake, we realized that we are all refugees, rich and poor, mad and old, and this process affected everyone. We will reshape our future perspective by taking lessons from what happened.”
Turgay Aldemir then delivered a greeting speech. Aldemir said, "Dear friends, welcome to you all. Thank you all for joining this beautiful table. We have many memories and stories together. This city has accumulated many memories of its people. But on February 6, the earth shook and the fault line broke, making us migrants like you. With this earthquake, we once again realized what it means to be homeless. We lost thousands of Syrian and Turkish people in this earthquake. This pain reminded us of our brotherhood and friendship. Ramadan is the month of mercy. Remove the distances between you, remove the resentments, because we need to stand upright in this land. We are making these efforts. You are doing it together with us. I thank you for coming. May God grant us to reach Laylat al-Qadr night and Ramadan."
Mahmut Kaçmazer, a member of the Foundation's Board of Trustees, said: "I am experiencing the happiness and sincerity of breaking the fast with you in the first days of Ramadan. We are all going through difficult times. The pain of all of us continues to increase one more time. The tests are getting a little heavier. For the sake of this month of Ramadan, may God grant us all to rebuild our destroyed homes, our futures and our hopes together, as every night has a morning. Destiny is in love with effort. I believe that if we strive, we will overcome these situations. May God help and assist us. May Ramadan bring goodness, abundance and peace."
Speakers in the hall emphasized brotherhood without discrimination, without any difference between the two nations. They expressed that these difficult processes will be overcome by joining hands together in the reconstruction of the destroyed cities.
The program ended with questions, opinions and suggestions.